


From a Friend

by warriorsandaces



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Aaron's POV, Episode: s05e10 Them, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 10:27:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3646890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warriorsandaces/pseuds/warriorsandaces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Aaron thinks it might be okay to hope again."</p><p>-</p><p>In which I try to write a fic based on why Aaron decided to help Rick's group. Set during Season 5, Episode 10.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> I think I wrote this after I watched episode 13, but I don't really remember. The finale kind of reminded me I had it, so I tweaked a few little things and figured what the hell, why not post it?  
> I have a soft spot for Aaron, I just really love the guy.  
> (trying to get the characterization accurate makes me wanna cry)

Aaron's been watching the group for days, following as stealthily as possible in the brush and keeping a safe distance. If they weren't half delirious with thirst and hunger he's sure they would've spotted him by now. He knows for a fact that the black woman named Sasha noticed some shoe prints he'd carelessly left in the mud. Instead of tracking it she'd started kicking at the dirt. He hopes she just thought it was an old track or a roamer.

He's heard them arguing with each other, things that had the potential to turn ugly, to tear the group apart and turn them against each other, but they've managed to avoid that. It's something Aaron stopped hoping for a long time ago, back when he'd seen group after group of people passing through, turning on each other, killing and beating each other just for the extra rations or for fun. It's horrible and heartbreaking, but Aaron couldn't do anything to help these groups without risking himself, Eric, the entire community.

But now, watching these people put their lives on the line for a person that could very well have caused the destruction of the group because of her recklessness, saving her instead of leaving her to the undead as some sort of twisted revenge, Aaron thinks it might be okay to hope again, to have faith in humans outside Alexandria. The way they'd taken care of the majority of the roamers before they'd been forced to attack, it was smart, innovative, and Aaron really hopes these people won’t be yet another disappointment. He wants to bring them in, but he still needs something _more_ , something that goes beyond just his compassion to save people.

He goes back to his car to grab the pack of water he'd brought to offer them, a sort of gesture of good will and hopefully something that will make them less delirious and maybe even help them survive a little longer. He knows he can't just walk up to them, especially since he's a stranger, but he thinks it'll be okay to leave the water a mile from where they are. He writes "FROM A FRIEND" on a sheet of paper and sets a bottle on it so it’s not blown away by wind. If anything, maybe that simple note will be what convinces them he's on their side.

It looks like there's a storm coming and he can hear the thunder in the distance, but he wants to watch them a little longer, see how they're doing and if they might need some more immediate help or provisions, so he heads back into the forest to make his way back to them.

When he gets to where he can see the group again the shaggy haired man named Daryl is refusing one of the other guy’s water.

"We can make it together," Aaron hears the Asian man say through the listening device, "but we can only make it together."

Aaron puts the device down to watch; Daryl is, so far, the only person Aaron isn't very sure about in the group. He's quieter than the rest and goes off on his own a lot. The way he fought against the roamers at the bridge, Aaron knows he can definitely handle himself and it doesn't seem like the rest of his people are worried about him being on his own. None of this means he's not a loose cannon, that he isn't like some of the men in the groups Aaron's seen before, so when he breaks from the group and starts stomping through the forest, Aaron follows.

He's been lucky he hasn't run into many roamers while he's been tailing the group, otherwise his sneaking around would've been caught onto a long time ago. He's also extremely lucky that he doesn't run into any while following Daryl, because they've probably walked for a good 20 minutes into the dense forest by the time the listening device stops picking up the man's feet crunching dead leaves and snapping twigs.

He moves around until he's in a good position where he can see an old farmhouse and Daryl, sitting against a tree with a lit cigarette in his hand. Aaron himself has never been one for smoking, but he understands that some people have different ways to unwind and relieve stress. Honestly, a part of him had thought that Daryl would have had other, _crueler_ ways of relieving stress. He's been on the receiving end of harsh judgments too many times to count, so he feels bad that he'd thought of this man in a way that some people might think of Aaron just because he's gay.

The world’s ending, though, and sometimes these snap judgments can be what determines if you survive or if you lose your life and Aaron understands this too well.

He's just about to put the listening device away and head back, see if the rest of the group made it to the water yet, when he hears Daryl start to breathe heavily, loud enough that he can be heard even without the device. He thinks the man's hyperventilating or having some kind of asthma attack until he hears sniffling, sees Daryl's shoulder's hunch as he puts his head down, breaths still coming rapidly.

Aaron packs his bag back up, gets on his feet as silently as possible, and heads back to his car. He'll make contact tomorrow and hope for the best. The community needs these people and everything they have to offer and, maybe, these people could use what Alexandria has to offer them just as badly. He thinks of the way the group shares their rations, how they protect each other even if doing so endangers their own life, how they all seem to be suffering.

They have a baby, they’re loyal, and they’re selfless; he’s going to do everything he can to give these people a home.


End file.
